SANDSARA

Wed Nov 24 '21 Announcement
over 4 years ago – Wed, Nov 24, 2021 at 11:09:02 AM

Hello everyone,

With the current shipping landscape and the global shortage of components such as wood and electronics, we planned along with our suppliers to devise the best direction to get these components in time for assembly and shipment. We won't lie; it wasn't an easy ride. Somewhere along the way, we faced the reality that the components we needed wouldn't be available for production. Despite this seemingly pessimistic scenario, we overcame this situation thanks to the joint efforts of our sourcing team and our supplier partners. We finally obtained all the electronics of Sandsara. 

• The electronic components have arrived at our warehouse!

Now, all of the ESP32 and the tcm2209 components we need to build our kinetic sculpture have arrived at our warehouse, and the PCBs are in full production mode, two steps that will allow us to gain momentum in the assembly line!

The last stretch of our journey will consist of polishing up the ultimate details of SANDSARA. Now that we're close to the finishing line, we are taking all the steps necessary to focus on the decision-making process that will prompt delivering a lifelong, highly reliable product.

We want to thank you for your ongoing support throughout this journey; we will keep pushing forward to delivery; in the meantime, please keep sharing comments, doubts, and suggestions.

The SANDSARA Team

Tue Nov 2 '21 Announcement
over 4 years ago – Tue, Nov 02, 2021 at 01:37:21 PM

Hi everyone,

We want to share with you a brief update on SANDSARA’s latest achievements.

The first batch

We have sent the first batch of 50 SANDSARAS to our regional warehouses! Once they get there, they will go under inspection to ensure no item was damaged during transport so they can proceed with individual dispatching.

We want to thank all the backers who accepted to be our beta testers. Your feedback will allow us to keep improving our project. If you requested to be included but did not receive any response, we will put you on the waiting list for the next stages! We will send an email to the selected backers once these packages are ready to be sent.

The medium-risk batch

While we are awaiting for the first batch to be delivered, our manufacturing partners have been updating the assembly flow documents after coming upon certain weak points in the assessment of the first batch. This is a common situation in mass production processes and it is one of the reasons why our partners suggested proceeding with manufacturing by batches. For the second batch, our suppliers will assemble 300 units. This will be the last batch before going into full production mode, and, as we have already manufactured the first lot successfully, building these pieces should take even less time. Usually, the second batch is considered to be of medium-risk. That’s why we decided to ship those to the backers who already asked us to be included as beta testers, if you’re one of them, we will send you an email once this batch is ready to ship.

Now, we have exciting news to share with you; SANDSARA has been invited to the 10th year anniversary edition of the KIKK Festival in Belgium! KIKK is a non-profit organisation that creates bridges between art, culture, science and technology through 4 major projects Kikk In Town, Conferences, Creative Village and Market. So, if you’re nearby, you can come and visit us at the Market from the 4th to the 7th of November in Namur, Wallonia. Our kinetic sculpture will be present among other amazing projects from all around the globe! You can find more information regarding our participation in this event on the following link: https://www.kikk.be/2021/en/program/market-1/sandsara

We will keep sharing more information regarding production and fulfillment in the following updates. We thank you for your support and encourage you to keep sharing any comments, doubts or suggestions.

The SANDSARA Team

Tue Oct 5 '21 Announcement
over 4 years ago – Tue, Oct 05, 2021 at 08:41:49 AM

Hi guys,

We have achieved a HUGE milestone, and we're thrilled to share it with you; the first SANDSARA's are alive!

These are the first units built with the final chain of production we will use on all the batches. Everything in these assemblies is exactly as the Sandsara's you'll receive, from tools and materials to the fabrication flow. Fantastic news, as this will push the manufacturing process forward.

These sculptures are part of the first batch of 50's SANDSARAS; in production matters, the first batch is usually considered a high-risk one. We will write to the first backers to determine if they want to receive these pieces and be our beta testers or if they want to wait for the second lot. If you are not one of the first backers but are interested in getting one of these first units, please send us an email at [email protected] with the subject line "I want to be a Beta Tester" to put you on the waiting list. For the first backers: pay attention to your email inbox, as we will send the notification to the lucky few in the following days.

• There will be a final test for all the units after assembly. But we were eager to full test the first production units.

ASSEMBLY PROCESS

When building this first batch, we made sure to document every single step of the assembly flow. With this information, we create the documents that contain all the steps for the final assembly line. This diagram will guide our partners to finish the assembly process.

• In this diagram, we track and define how to assemble every piece of SANDSARA.

WOOD RINGS

Some of you have asked for more details about the final design of the wood rings. As you can recall from previous updates, we moved forward with a natural and composite wood stack. This assembly absorbs part of the deformation of the natural wood, keeping a stable shape even after the humidity and aging tests. One of the main goals for this redesign was to keep the natural and beautiful aesthetic of the wood, so we are delighted with the final results. Here are some detailed pictures of the last rings.

• A close-up of one of the birch rings of our first batch!

• Bottom detail of the walnut ring

Thank you for reading and your support in this whole journey. We'll keep you updated on the following steps. As always, we are happy to hear any comments, doubts, or suggestions.

Best,

The SANDSARA Team.

Wed Sep 22 '21 Announcement
over 4 years ago – Wed, Sep 22, 2021 at 08:30:45 AM

Hi guys!

Here are the latest developments on our project!

As previously reported, we finally got to the perfect wood ring design. This achievement gave us the clearance to consent our partners to start working on tooling and manufacturing 50 wood ring pieces of the first batch, which are currently under quality inspection! These examinations on the first assemblage lot will give us all the necessary information to define the complete scale-up production plan. After this process, we will present to you an updated timeline of SANDSARA’s fulfillment.

Although we are hopeful with our timeframe, we aim to be realistic. Since our setback on the wood ring layout, we have been taking all the proper steps and precautions to produce and deliver the new rings in the best shape. There are some intricate steps throughout our production line, such as our wood rings' handcrafted artisanal processes, which may take some time. We have been jointly preparing along with our top-of-the-line partners for any course of events. We are simultaneously arranging assembly, getting our first batch tested for quality control, and planning with our shipping suppliers for the best logistics scheme!

The good news is, once the wood rings are thoroughly checked, we plan on shipping the first 50 SANDSARA units later this month! We will keep you updated on this process.

Thank you for your continuous support; feel free to share any comments and suggestions!

Best,

The Sandsara Team.

Tue Aug 31 '21 Announcement
over 4 years ago – Tue, Aug 31, 2021 at 09:19:42 AM

Hello everyone,

Simultaneously to the mechanism’s production and testing, our team has been finalizing the PCB development. The PCB’s design must be compliant with electronic regulations to avoid customs issues in the shipping process. So we must follow an iterative process between design and testing to reach the final version.

SANDSARA’s PCB will be FCC and CE compliant, which means it must complete laboratory tests to get the certifications. We must be sure of the design before starting the process; otherwise, the PCB could be rejected, and we would have to start the whole process from the beginning. Our team has finalized the DFM revision, and our suppliers are already working on producing certification units.

PCB Design

There were two main important decisions regarding the PCB design: select the microcontroller and the motor’s drivers. The microcontroller is an ESP32 that allows Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connection. The current development is focused on Bluetooth communication, but with the open-hardware perspective, we want to offer the possibility of programming a connection via Node-Red or MQTT. We are thrilled to see what you can achieve with our system.

The second essential components are the drivers. After extensive tests, we decided to use TMC2209 drivers, which are the most advanced ones. These components allow us to integrate the StealthChop2 and StallGuard technologies. StealthChop2 enables super silent motors. You can be at one meter from SANDSARA, and the sound from the motors will be almost imperceptible. The StallGuard technology is useful for the Stelle shape, since it can detect collisions with the edge of the shape to have an absolute reference of the workable area.

To all of you who want to explore the PCB design further, you can see all the components in the PCB visualizer.

Thanks again for reading our update and for your continuous support and encouragement; remember to feel free to share any comments, doubts, or suggestions.

Best,

The Sandsara Team